The Champs Are Still Underdogs

ENLARGE

Kyle Williams (No. 10) lost two fumbles in last year's NFC title game.
Reuters

By

Joshua Robinson

Updated Oct. 11, 2012 2:48 p.m. ET

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Before last season's NFC Championship game, San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis made it public knowledge that he had reserved a Bay Area nightclub to hold the after party. There was no doubt in his mind that playing in Candlestick Park against a Giants team that finished the regular season 9-7 could mean anything but a celebration.

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Two special teams fumbles and an overtime field goal later, Davis had a reservation to cancel. The underdog Giants, battered and bruised, would be making the trip to the Super Bowl.

"One of the toughest games I've ever played, hands down," safety Antrel Rolle said this week.

On paper, there wasn't much to separate the two teams on that rainy night in San Francisco. The 49ers had dominated the ground game and piled the pressure on quarterback Eli Manning, but the Giants stayed ahead in a couple of important statistical categories, like passing yards, time of possession, and of course turnovers.

Yet, the way the Giants tell the story of that night, they overcame terrific odds to topple a highly favored opponent. Which is exactly the mentality that coach Tom Coughlin has cultivated throughout his tenure. If he can convince his players that it's them against the world, he believes, then they will play like a unit.

And this week is no different, as the defending Super Bowl champions prepare for Sunday's rematch against the 49ers.

"Nobody gives us a chance to win," Coughlin said Wednesday, refusing to elaborate.

Told of Coughlin's assessment, San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh could only laugh.

"I think that's probably an exaggeration," he said. "A big one."

The 4-1 49ers have been the more convincing side so far this season and are generally considered six-point favorites. In their last two games, a pair of blowouts that they won by a combined 76 points, Harbaugh's offensive machine has generated exactly 1,000 yards. So, exaggeration or not, Coughlin has a point. Aside from the undefeated Atlanta Falcons, the 49ers are the form team of the NFC.

And Coughlin's philosophy has trickled down to his players. Despite the fact that most of them have a Super Bowl ring at home—one that many 49ers believe should have been theirs to win last season—the Giants enjoy their status as underdogs. Defensive end Justin Tuck recognized that over the years, the team has been cast in that role a lot, but insisted it was more than just a motivational tactic. Especially when San Francisco is concerned.

"The fact of the matter is they're a good football team and they're playing well," he said of the 49ers. "And I think if I was a betting man and didn't have anything to do with this team, I would probably pick them as favorites, too."

Except last week Tuck was talking up the Giants' previous opponents, too, well beyond the usual canned response of every NFL game being a difficult one. Of the 0-4 Cleveland Browns, he said, "This team could easily be 4-0, so I think we're going to have to play our best game. This is a talented football team. They had Philly beat. They had Baltimore beat."

The result? For all of Tuck's praise, the Browns are now 0-5.

Still, the 49ers have weapons the Browns didn't, as the Giants' offensive line remembers all too well. For that unit, last season's NFC Championship game was less about siege mentality than it was about barely surviving. (It allowed a dozen quarterback hits and six sacks.)

The crucial difference this time around is that, even if the 49ers get their much-discussed revenge, there will be 10 games left in the regular season—as the Giants will remind you, ever pointing out that they were 7-7 and still won the Super Bowl. And regardless of betting lines, statistics or history, Coughlin's underdog approach will dictate their outlook.

"We don't care what anybody says," defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said. "That's how our organization works and that's how we play football."

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